Health corset



A STURZ HEALTH CORSET May 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 4' 1955 ...mlllllllllmmunml A. STURZ HEALTH CORSET May 6, 1958 Filed Jan. 4. 1955 INVENTOR.

United States Paten ice This invention relates to corsets and more particularly to health corsets which are adjusted on'the wearers body by cluster or draw lacing. This application is a continuation in part of my prior application Serial No. 405,406, tiled January 2l, 1954, now Patent No. 2,731,639.

lt is the primary object of this invention to provide a corset of the above type wherein its adjustment by the wearer is facilitated. By such adjustment I mean tightening as well as releasing the garment on the wearers body. ln my above-entitled application, I disclosed a corset which was of such construction as to facilitate loosening of the garment on the wearers body. I accomplished this-by employing supplementary draw laces connected to adjustment buckles, such draw laces being manually accessible and thus an improvement over prior structure which require a person to locate and actuate such buckles.

In the instant invention I have further improved the corset in respect to the garment tightening elements. In the past, the wearer was required to pull tightening straps which were connected to the adjustment buckles which in turn were connected to tightening laces. According to this invention however, I connect supplementary laces to the straps which laces are brought out in a loop on the outside of the garment, such loops being actuable to tighten the garment upon the wearer. Two loops are provided for tightening one side, and such loops are then combined into a single end loop which can be used to tighten both such loops.

The corset of the instant invention also embodies other advantages in that substantially the entire tightening structure is concealed by an inner panel which renders the garment more comfortable, moreeiicient and nevertheless provides access to the tightening straps if desired.

The invention will be further understood from the following description and drawings in which:

Figure l is a front elevational view of a garment constructed according to the instant invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view thereof;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view with the rear panel removed and showing the center section of the supplementary panel;

Figure 4 is a rear elevational view with the rear panel broken away and all but one end section or wing of the supplementary panel removed, the other end section or wing being shown in broken lines;

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view as taken along the line 5-5 of Figure l;

Figure 6 is an elevational view of one of the adjustment buckles; and

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view as taken along the line 7-7 of Figure 6. y

The body of the corset garment comprises a front section 10 having a row or" hooks 11. The rear section 12 comprises two superimposed panels 13 and 14, the panel 14 being outermost and the panel 13 being designated as the supplementary rear panel.

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Panel 13 is divided into v two separated sections 15 and 16 and is formed with bifurcated end wings 13a and 13b as explained hereinafter. The separation is traversed and is adjustable by the 'network of cluster laces 17. Four looped straps 18 are provided. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, corsets of this type are generally loosened upon the wearers body by manually Idrawing upon adjustment buckles slidable on such straps. According to the improved garment, however,

supplementary loosening draw laces are connected to such buckles and serve to actuate them as will be hereinafter described. 1

Pursuant to conventional construction, each strap 18 is provided with an adjustment buckle 19 to one end vof which is connected a plurality of the cluster lace lengths 17. Each buckle 19 is provided with a slidable cross bar 20 around which the steps 18 are looped. Serrations'are further provided to aiord gripping means. Apivoted ta'b member 21 is formed with rings 22 (Figure 6) Vwhich receive the cluster laces as illustrated in Figure 3.

The cross bar 20 which is slidable on the buckle frame 23 is provided with supplementary end rings 24 which are designed to receive the supplementary loosening draw laces 25; Thus, each of the four buckles 19 is provided with a loosening draw lace 25 so that each may be actuated thereby.

lt will be noted that the cross bar 20 substantially overlays the frame 23 as illustrated in Figure 6.v I prefer to dispose the buckle as disclosed in my prior applicationv where the buckle is disposed so that the cross bar is in' the direction of the rear panel 14 as illustrated in Figure 3. This insures that the serrations are covered by the straps 1S and provides superior comfort while aiding in the adjusting functions.

In accordance with the further objects of this invention, the outer rear panel 14 is formed of three sections which are interconnected by lines of stitching as illustrated in Figure 2. The center, outer, rear section 29 is formed with a' plurality of spaced holes 30. These holes arel shown as comprising four pairs, each pair serving to accommodate the outer, looped ends of the supplementary draw laces 25. Inasmuch as the holes in each pair are spaced from each other and accommodate one loop, the loops are maintained on the outer surface of panel 29 and cannot be drawn inwardly or displaced from position. It will be recognized therefore that the center section 29 shields or covers the network of cluster laces and the buckles, and only exposes the outer ends of the looped supplementary loosening draw laces 25 as illustrated in Figure 2.

I will now describe the tightening adjustment system of the instant invention:

Ordinarily, the user puts on the garment and then draws ldirectly upon the adjustment straps 18 which correspondingly pull upon the cluster laces 17 to tighten the garment. However, pursuant to the object of the instant invention which is to facilitate such adjustment, I connect a pair of supplementary tightening adjustment laces 31 and 32 to the outer end of each adjustment strap as illustrated in Figure 4. Such two laces extend through openings 33 of l the front panel 10 so as to be accessible on the outer surface thereof and they are then returned to the inner surface of the front panel through the single opening 34 (Figure l). This forms a tightening loop 35 on the front panel, four such loops being provided as illustrated in Figure 1.

Referring to Figures l and 4, the upper pair of tightening adjustment laces 31a and 32a, after leaving front panel opening 34, travel upwardly along the inner surface of the front panel 10 and go through a holding loop 36. They then merge at 37 (Figure l) to become, in elect, a single lace. Inasmuch as there is another set of supple- Patented May s, s

laces 31 and 32, a second merged lace 38 is provided.

which may be actually integral with lace 37 so that both of these laces may be actuated simultaneously by drawing Uponthe end loop 39 formed by the two merged` laces.

It will/lle noted that `the bifurcation of wings 13a and 13b of the supplementary rear panel 13 form tabs .40, 4.1., 42 and 43. The upper tabs 40 and 42 are formed with openings 44 and 45 through which are drawn `the two supplementary lower adjustment laces, e. g., laces 31 and 32 which `go through tab opening 45 and eventually becom@ merged lace 38 and half of loop 39. On the other side, the lower laces go through upper tab opening 44 and eventually become half of loop 46, the other half, of Course, being the merged upper laces.

When the wearer desires to tighten the corset, sh'e will pnll .open the front panel loops .35 so as to pull open the straps 18. The ensuing Slack in the supplementary tight- @ning adjustment laces is taken up by pulling upon the uppepend loops 39 and 46 which may then be tucked into the top ,of` the garment so as to be out of the way. Accordingly, the lace loops 39 and 46 may be referred to as slack loops.

When the wearer ,desires to loosen the garment, instead of actuating ,the buckles 17 as was required in prior garments, she simply grasps the exposed loops 25 and successively pulls the upper and lower pairs thereof. Inasmuch ,as these loops or draw laces are connected to the buckles through the cross bar 20, the serrations are released and the buckles effectively pull upon the straps 18 so as to loosen the corset.

It will be noted that complete adjustment of the garment both tightening and loosening is eiected by means of externally accessible loops which renders the garment very convenient for use by older people or those who have difficulty in `handling straps or the like, such as arthritics. The buckles are further concealed within the double rear panel structure which prevents them from .contacting the wearers back. It further prevents the buckles from being visible through the garment and the dress of the wearer. In fact, the entire corset is of unusually neat appearance without a great number of laces, straps `or buckles being evident. In a large sense, the corset looks very much like an ordinary girdle. While the outer rear panel and the Yfrontpanel are of Vthe usual tightly woven material, the

supplementary rear panel 13 may be of relatively lighter -4` to the conventional adjustment means and which are conveniently accessible for remote actuation 0f auch C011- ventional adjustment means.

What is claimed is:

1. ln a corset comprising two outer sections with a supplementary section disposed between said outer sections, said supplementary section comprising a pair of centrally separated panels including a network of cluster laces across the separation, buckles disposed at the rear of the corset and to which the cluster laces are fastened, tightening straps on which said buckles are slidably dis posed, `said buckles including a slidable cross bar for releasably locking said straps relative to said buckles, a supplementary loosening draw lace secured to each of said cross bars, said loosening draw laces extending through one of said outer sections so as to be actuable externally thereof to adjust the cluster laces, and supplementary tightening draw laces connected to an end of said straps, said supplementary tightening laces .extending through one of said outer sectionsand being actuable externally thereof to adjust the cluster laces.

2. An article according to claim 1 and wherein said supplementary loosening draw laces are four in number divided into .one upper and .one lower pair and each forming a single loop on the outer surface of one of said outer sections, and said supplementaryjtightening laces extendf ing .through the other outer section and forming four loops yon theouter surface thereof.

3. An article according to .claim 2 and including a pair of wings formed on ,the respective sides of said supplemlltary Section, one .of .each pair .of said supplementary tightening laces extending through an opening formed in .one .of said wings.

4. An article according to `claim 3 and wherein said supplementary tightening laces are each composed of two laces Vand twosets .of Supplementary tightening laces being combined together and extending upwardly :of the gar ment and jointly forming slack loops.

v*References* Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,558,661 `Yeganian Oct. 27, 1925 1,942,038 Quine lan. 2, 1934 2,053,600 Camp Sept. 8, 1936 2,074,776 Cotey et al Mar. 23, 1937 2,137,838 Greenfield Nov. 22, 1938 2,267,212 Nathanson Dec. 23, 1941 i FOREIGN PATENTS 25,044 Great Britain Feb. 4, 1903 

